Meet our newest donor

Catherine L. Kramer came to Jobsite with two wishes. She wanted to make a donation specifically to be used for tools that we need to help us build bigger and better sets, the second was for her gift to be credited via a dedication of a show.

We’re very happy to report that we’ve already begun buying those tools – like this RIGID cast iron table saw. The show dedication will go for The March of the Kitefliers, in memory of her father, Robert L. Jakway, Sr. Ms. Kramer will be here in person for the opening of the show in March. These tools are going to help us for the rest of the season and well beyond. They will make an immediate and significant difference.

This is a wonderful thing for a whole host of other reasons. Mr. Jakway was a tinkerer of sorts – he built birdhouses and the like and always loved his tools. He was both a dreamer and a realist. An orphan who became an Eagle Scout and eventually a Chief in the US Navy. This is a very fitting donation, and a very fitting dedication.

Ms. Kramer hasn’t even seen a Jobsite show. Ok, I suppose I have to confess now that she’s my mother, and this March when she comes to Tampa it will be the first time she’s seen what I’ve toiled at here for the past eight and a half years. It’ll also be the first time she’s seen me on stage in about 10 years.

Jobsite is, as am I, overwhelmed by the generosity shown to us. Not just by Ms. Kramer’s memorial of her father, but by the dedication of our artists, sponsors and patrons.

I know a lot of folks are vacationing, or at least not working next week. We just want to make sure you all know how thankful we are for you all.